Since Neil Lennon left Celtic, we have all read and heard about various other people linked with the managers job.
Roy Keane, Owen Coyle, Malky Mackay, Davie Moyes, at one point or another were all guaranteed to get the job. Then a day or so before his appointment, Ronny Deila started appearing on some Celtic websites.
Prior to then, I have to admit that I had never heard of the guy. I had heard of the team that he was the manger of and that was only because we bought Stefan Johansen from them so it’s good to know that our search for a new boss was cast far and wide.
Now that we know that Deila will be assisted by John Collins the guessing game really begins over who the new management team will bring in, and who they want to move on.
These transfer dealings, and the results in the Champions League qualifiers will give an early guide to the ambitions of the club and the new management team.
If we are to allow, for example, Fraser Forster and Virgil Van Dijk to move on, I think it shows that the club are not really interesting in competing in the Champions League. I think it would show that just being there is enough.
Speaking of Van Dijk, I have read tweets and saw pictures of news paper articles saying that he is cheating on his partner. My first though is that I couldn’t really care what he is doing.Yes, it shows him in a poor light and it will make some people think less of him as a person but does it make him any less of an able football player ? I don’t think it does.
The point I am getting at here is at when do we have to say ‘enough is enough, let’s leave these guys to live their life outside of football’.
Over the last few years, sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube combined with high spec cameras and high speed internet connections have made it almost impossible for a football player to go anywhere or to do anything that will go unnoticed.
We’ve had instances of Tony Stokes, Leigh Griffiths and now Virgil in the papers and online doing stuff that they shouldn’t have been doing while they are away from the club and not actually representing Celtic.
I suspect the immediate response to this would be that these guys are supposed to be role models and setting an example to younger fans so they should be on their best behaviour at all times.
The way I look at it is that unless the guys are doing something that’s illegal or that is causing harm to others, I don’t really care too much what they get up to.I know being a football player is not a normal job but at the end of the day, these guys should be given some time outside of their work to do whatever they want to do. I don’t think it’s anything to do with me.
Moving back to the new gaffer, I know that I am getting quite excited at the prospect of him getting in and starting the job. Like any new boss, coach or player, they might take a bit of time to settle in and they might never give us a style of football that we enjoy watching – on the other hand, he might give us a type of football that is going to increase the number of fans coming through the doors.
Time will answer that question but I have a pretty good feeling about Ronny. Hopefully, the short period of time that he has with his new players is enough to time to get us into the Champions League or, at least, the Europa League group stages.
We are going to be up against it for the first qualifiers, a home game will not be at Celtic Park but instead, it will be at Muarryfield.
Some fans have already made the point that had we played against Karagandy without the backing of the fans, could the players have got through the qualifiers ? Nobody will ever know but we’ve got a lot to look forward to and with almost no competition in domestic football, this really is the time to move on and make sure that we are miles ahead of the rest of Scottish football.
